It takes a lot of courage to change your life. Even when deep down you know this change will dramatically improve you all around. You finally take that first step, yet there are times when you doubt your decision making abilities and it’s scary. Everything around you seems to be spinning out of control and there’s nothing to grab onto that will hold you stable. Then, like a beam of light through the fog, you see your path, the path that will lead you to yourself, your TRUE self.

Ending an unhealthy, 10-year relationship was my spinning, Heidi was my beam of light. She was back in St. Augustine after completing teacher training and she was working at the studio. She had a spare room for me where I could stay indefinitely with my sweet dog, Ellie. The studio was a quick 10-minute drive from our little condo; what a blessing! I came here with no job and very few possessions. I was sad and confused. Heidi reassured me that if I did a 30-Day Challenge (1 class everyday for a month) it would be the best thing for me and would help me adjust to my new life, process my emotions and move forward. She was SO right! Before the end of that month of yoga I had a steady job and was working at the studio in exchange for yoga. I had made friends and my cup started to fill with happiness, hope and love; love for myself. I started to discover who I really was, who I was always meant to be, but I'd been hiding for a long time. I knew that this healing practice, Bikram yoga, would forever be a part of my life. It IS that something to grab onto that will hold you stable, and I’m so grateful to have this powerful tool. I know what to do now when life starts to get a little crazy, DO MORE YOGA!

You never forget your very first Bikram yoga class! You remember feeling hot, overwhelmed, maybe a little lost as you watched everyone around you move together from posture to posture. They seemed so calm and you were struggling and falling apart inside. So what made you come back for your second, third, hundredth class? That amazing feeling you get after class, that’s what! That feeling that you can’t seem to get from any other source.

I took my first class because my closest friend told me she was leaving for Palm Springs, CA to attend Bikram Yoga Teacher Training for the next nine weeks. I had no idea what she was talking about, so while visiting St. Augustine in 2009 I took my first class. It was everything I described above, hot, overwhelming and I felt a bit lost, but I also left class feeling like I never had before. My whole body was buzzing and my head was less foggy and I had a strange sort of happiness. I had tried (multiple times) going to the gym, running, swimming, biking, speed walking, kickboxing… it was all ok, but I never stuck with any of it and none of those things excited me the way Bikram yoga did. When I returned home to Massachusetts I knew I wanted to find a studio, and I discovered that the closest one was an hour away! I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way of chasing that feeling I got from my first class, so I committed to myself that I would take one class per week, no matter what. For four months I did that, and I felt great. It wasn’t easy sometimes to keep that commitment to myself and a lot of times other activities would come up that I would say no to. From getting in my car to go to class to getting out of my car at home after class would be about four hours! I kept going because I knew it was doing so much good for my body, mind and soul. - Nicky (Owner/Director)